On Saturday, UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (18-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) attempts to defend his title for the second time, and the fourth if you count his run in the now-defunct WEC.

Standing in his way is a fighter equally as quick as he is, Demetrious Johnson (10-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who looks to break the hard-to-decipher rhythm Cruz has used to impose his will in fights.

The five-round title fight headlines UFC on Versus 6, which takes place at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Main-card action airs live on Versus while Facebook streams the prelims.

Cruz is riding high following a unanimous-decision victory over Urijah Faber at UFC 132 in what was the first UFC pay-per-view event headlined by bantamweights. As always, Cruz did it with speed and unpredictability while keeping the former featherweight champ guessing as to what attack was coming next – and being far away when the inevitable counter came.

A few times, Faber caught Cruz flush, but it was never enough to swing the fight in his favor.

Johnson enjoys a four-fight win streak that includes two key wins over the highly touted Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and, most recently, a unanimous-decision win over former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres that won him the title shot against Cruz.

It was Johnson’s speed in timing takedowns that played a huge part in the victory over Yamamoto, and against Torres, it was an ability to keep top position once he got there. The fight’s unanimous decision did not come without controversy; many fans felt Torres had earned enough points by constantly threatening with submissions from the bottom.

Cruz, though, agreed that those attempts didn’t count for much when the scorecards were being tallied up. Because Johnson controlled the position, he controlled the fight and deserved the win. He pointed to a tactical error from Torres in becoming complacent with an inferior position as the culprit that led to the loss.

By all indications, Cruz has no intention of grinding out Johnson from top position, and vice versa for Johnson. The challenger literally broke his leg in the Torres fight, and if anything, his takedowns will serve to keep Cruz off balance so he can set up striking combinations.

If Cruz plays by that game, that is. The champ is incredibly adept at darting in and out of range for quick-fire combinations. That owes much to his happy-feet footwork, which is mistaken as serving no purpose in a greater scheme of the fight. On the contrary, it’s exactly why he’s so hard to hit and so hard to take down. Faber, an accomplished amateur wrestler, could scarcely get the job done.

It’s hard not to expect much more than a hit-and-run attack from Cruz as Johnson tries to close the distance and perhaps take the steam out of the champ’s attack against the fence early on.

As Johnson said at an open workout in support of Saturday’s event, it will be a matter of who can break the rhythm and timing of the other fighter.

Jack, meet the beanstalk

Before 5-foot-3 Johnson and Stefan Struve (21-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) united for an impromptu photo session, Struve’s scheduled opponent on Saturday provided quite a good visual illustration on the height advantage he’ll be enjoying some Saturday.

The 5-foot-11 Pat Barry (6-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) won’t get a stepladder to fight the Holland-based fighter, but he might need one. Former training partner and UFC opponent Antoni Hardonk proved a difficult challenge in that he was forced to punch up, and Struve, at 6-foot-11, will double those problems.

Barry, of course, is a skilled kickboxer and said he won’t need to be worried when he gets inside on Struve. He also possesses some of the hardest leg kicks in the business, and that could be a way to chop down his opponent. If all else fails, he’s been sharpening his wrestling skills with Team Death Clutch, the team behind former heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar, and Struve has never been known to have much of a sprawl.

Struve, meanwhile, is coming off a devastating knockout loss at the hands of Travis Browne, and he’s promised to use his range more effectively rather than charge in with the kind of high-risk attacks that resulted in a loss of consciousness. If he uses his feet much like Jon Jones did against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, it could be a long and painful night for Barry, who also is coming off a devastating loss to Cheick Kongo (though he was dominating the fight before Kongo’s miracle comeback).

That being said, Barry should have the advantage in speed and may be able to get in faster than Struve can stay away.

“The Spaniard” is here – now what?

It was one of the Cinderella stories of the year when Charlie Brenneman (14-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) stepped up on last-minute notice at UFC on Versus 5 to upset Rick Story after perennial Nate Marquardt was not approved to fight. Now, Brenneman has a real test on his hands when he meets standout welterweight Anthony Johnson (9-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC).

Although he played it safe in wrestling former training partner Dan Hardy to a decision in his most recent fight, Johnson’s previous bout showed how close he was to a welterweight title shot. It took previous opponent Josh Koscheck less than a year to earn a contendership against champ Georges St-Pierre. Point is, Johnson brings to the table an experience with high-level competition that Brenneman simply doesn’t have.

What “The Spaniard” does have, though, are the wrestling skills that allowed him to rout Story. Granted, there doesn’t seem to be much else in his arsenal, which plays directly into the hands of striking savant Johnson. But the wrestler who can control the top position wins the fight, and Johnson will be ready to sprawl, brawl and deliver punishment wherever possible.

Additionally, a rematch between Mac Danzig (20-8-1 MMA, 4-4 UFC) and Matt Wiman (13-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) is on tap for the first televised bout of the evening. The two previously met at UFC 115, where Wiman earned a bogus submission win when the referee incorrectly thought Danzig was going to sleep in a choke position. That set up a rematch three months later, but Danzig was forced to withdraw with an injury.